


and this of all my hopes

by Moriavis



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, First Kiss, M/M, They have a lot of baggage, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 09:37:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15410070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moriavis/pseuds/Moriavis
Summary: An invasion of interstellar robots? Sure. A time traveler with a big mouth? Okay. A team up with Captain Cold? Why not?It wasn't like Barry had any plans for his weekend, anyway.





	and this of all my hopes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [daydreamingstoryteller](https://archiveofourown.org/users/daydreamingstoryteller/gifts).



> This was written for the Coldflash Exchange 2018, for daydreamingstoryteller!
> 
> The prompt was: Time Traveler from the future who accidentally lets it slip that they get married in the future but they aren't even dating at this point. 
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope you like it!
> 
> Shout out to my amazing betas: saekhwa and scheherezhad, for being so great, and to dungeonmarm, for looking this over even though they were exhausted. I really appreciate everything you do for me. ♥

~*~

Barry leaned back in his chair, yawning and indulging in a stretch before he stared up at the ceiling. "If we don't have any activity in the next five minutes, I'm calling it quits."

"You're the one who told Caitlin you'd take her shift," Cisco said, shooting a rubber band at Barry. 

Barry spun lazily in his chair to avoid it, reaching out and catching it from the air. "That was four hours ago, and we'd gotten that reading on the cold gun that turned out to be a false alarm. And we've had nothing ever since."

Cisco shook his head. "Man, I should've guessed it was something to do with Snart." He stifled a yawn with the back of his hand. "Is it the ridiculous flirting or the cold shoulder that gets you going?"

"Shut up." The corner of Barry's mouth curled in an affectionate smile, and he popped the rubber band back over to Cisco. "And it's nothing like that, okay? I just… like him."

"Barry." Cisco set his feet firmly on the floor and leaned forward, pinning Barry with a serious look. "My best friend. My pal. If his bipolar behavior is what gets you, you're a masochist, and I mean that with all the love in my heart."

"Oh my god." Barry ran a hand over his face. "You know what really worked for us? Not talking about this. It was great, we should keep doing that."

Cisco laughed outright. "I'm just saying, he's not the only person in the world who's died and come back to life, you know?"

Barry zipped out of his chair and spun it into place, speeding into his civilian clothing. "And with that, I'm going home. I'll keep the sound up on my phone in case a meta alert comes through."

Cisco was smirking in the way he did when they both knew he was going easy on Barry, but Barry didn't care. He was antsy with unreleased energy, and he needed to be out in the fresh air instead of in the lab waiting for nothing to happen.

He and Cisco hugged goodbye, and Barry walked out into the warm evening. It was less humid than it normally was, a pleasant breeze kicking up, and he took a deep breath, sliding his hands in his pockets as he started off toward his apartment.

In the distance, a streak of light appeared in the sky, and he thought for a moment that it was a shooting star. Then its trajectory switched radically, dropping straight down in a blur of motion. Barry sighed and spun back around, speeding into STAR Labs again and skidding to a stop behind Cisco's chair, ruffling the papers on his desk.

Cisco paused in the middle of drinking his energy drink,and arched his eyebrow. "Missed me already?"

"Always," Barry promised. "But I just saw something—I thought it was a shooting star, but I just wanted to patch into—" There was a crackle of static over the channel they'd been using to follow the CCPD's activity.

"We have a 10-38 on Wilde Street. Repeat, we have a 10-38 on Wilde Street."

Cisco shook his head and slipped on his shades as Barry abandoned his clothes for his Flash costume again. "It's so boring, Cisco. There's nothing to do, Cisco." Cisco jabbed his finger against Barry's shoulder. "I blame this on you."

"You can yell at me after we take care of this, I promise. Meet you there." 

Cisco was already opening a portal, so Barry didn't waste anymore time, lightning crackling around him as he headed off. The rest of the team would be getting their alerts if they hadn't already, and he wanted to get an idea of what was going on before Joe and Eddie showed up on scene.

Barry did a quick perimeter — the thing he thought had been a shooting star had apparently separated into five people. Humanoids might have been the better word. They were identical, with gray metal faces and full bodysuits in red and blue. Officer Thomas had been the one to call in the code, and he was shielded by the open door of his car, one of Cisco's long distance tasers in his hands. There weren't any other police cars on the street, so Barry came to an easy stop in front of Officer Thomas' vehicle. He heard Cisco's portal somewhere off to his left and raised his hands, trying to be as unthreatening as possible.

"Hey, guys," Barry said conversationally, and he heard Officer Thomas breathe a shaky, "Thanks, Flash," behind him. "You don't look like you're from around here. Can I help you with something?"

"We are dedicated to order in this cosmos," one of them intoned, sounding surprisingly _not_ robotic.

"That's great," Barry said with a winning smile. "I like peace. Looks like we've already got something in common."

"Are you part of your world's justice enforcement?" The question sounded like they were actually curious, and Barry shrugged.

"I try to do my part." He let his hands fall, pleased when they didn't attack. "Care to tell me what you're doing here? Did you get lost?"

"We are not lost," the one furthest to the left said. "We follow the stench of corruption." 

Barry stared at them, his shoulders bunching up as he waited for the other shoe to drop. The sound of sirens filled the air as more officers responded to the call. 

"Barry, you got eyes on what's going on?" Joe's voice piped into Barry's ear via their communicators. "Eddie and I are on our way. Try not to get yourself in trouble."

Thankfully, Cisco responded. "Looks like we have some extraterrestrial robots who want to make friends with local law enforcement. Barry's got it under control for now."

"We'll make a perimeter. Get the civilians out of the way," Eddie promised, and Barry's gut lurched the way it always did when he realized Eddie was with them.

"As you can see, we've got our stuff under control," Barry told the robots firmly. "You can continue on your way."

"You understand how important it is to protect civilization from the crimes of its people," the first robot said. "Join us on our mission. You'd be a welcome addition."

Barry looked around in a burst of speed. Cisco was at the ready, his hands raised to vibe-blast the hell out of them if they made a move, and three other police officers had joined Officer Thomas on the road. Barry gave a friendly smile. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm not interested. I'm the kind of guy that likes to stay on my home planet, you know?"

"Emotion breaks down the natural law of order. If your sentiment causes you to ignore the needs of the universe, then you are corrupt and will be punished." The smoothness of the voice gave way to something staticky and mechanical, and the five robots moved forward as one, raising their hands. A panel in their palms slid open to reveal the nozzle of a gun. "No man escapes the Manhunters!"

"Oh my god," Cisco said. "We're fighting Cybermen, this is _awesome_!"

The flash of the muzzle was Barry's cue, and he leapt forward, knocking the bullets out of the air before they struck anyone. He looked around for something to use as a weapon, but he was a little at a loss. Guns were easier to handle when they weren't actually attached. Barry darted between each Manhunter, looking for any structural weakness he could take advantage of, but each seam he tried—the arm, the knee, the chest—was perfectly flush with the next piece. If he wasn't worried about the damage they could potentially do, he'd be amazed at their construction. Punching them made his hands hurt, so he broke off, running laps instead, speeding faster with each rotation until there was lightning all around him and it was possible to reach out and touch it.

Barry threw his lightning at one of the Manhunters, relieved when it made a crackling sound and stopped dead, smoke rising from its body. He paused to catch his breath and stole another look around: the officers who'd made it on scene were shooting carefully, not wanting to hit him or Cisco, but the bullets that seemed to connect bounced off with barely any effect.

Cisco was engaged with another Manhunter, yelping when the Manhunter grabbed his arms and lifted him off his feet. "Whoa, Mr. Roboto, you're getting pretty handsy for a first date. I'm not that kind of boy." He summoned two distortions and managed to slice the Manhunter in half, pushing its hands off him as it twitched and sparked its death throes.

Barry flashed over to Cisco's side. "I'm gonna throw lightning again. You think you can catch it in a portal and get it to zap more than the one I aim for?"

Cisco hummed, pushing his glasses up his nose. "It'll probably disperse once it hits the first Manhunter. Can you throw lightning three times? I can aim my portals at the other two if you think you can throw those quick enough."

"Can't hurt," Barry agreed. "Okay, get ready." He sped off, running faster as the Speed Force crackled around him, and he waited as the energy field grew bigger and bigger, making the air tingle around him as he ran. He held his breath as he reached for the lightning, and he threw three quick bolts, trusting Cisco to have the portals up in time, and then he skidded to a stop, watching Cisco fling his arms out, straining with the effort of opening three portals at once.

The zap of each Manhunter as they were struck from behind was intensely satisfying, and he and Cisco high-fived each other in triumph.

"No one escapes… the Manhunters." The Manhunter that Cisco had severed in half sparked defiantly and raised its hand to the sky, a brilliant streak of light soaring through the air. Barry and Cisco watched as the light went up over their heads and exploded like a firework.

"That… isn't good, is it?" Cisco asked and Barry shook his head.

"Probably not." Barry raised his hand to his earpiece. "Joe, we got the robots, but one sent out some fireworks. I'm guessing it's a signal. Cisco's going to hop back over to STAR and see if we can track what it does—" Barry paused as a wave of humanoid shapes flew through the air and started landing on the street, line after line of Manhunters, ready for battle.

"Never mind." Cisco shook his head. "We know what it did."

Iris' voice piped in over the comms, and Barry's heart lurched in his chest, the way it always did when he heard her speak. "We're getting reports from everywhere, Barry. It's not just Central. We have another invasion on our hands."

"Iris, get to the lab and bunker down," Barry ordered. "You can keep an eye on where Central needs us most and track what's happening with these Manhunters. Get a line out to Ollie and see if we need to coordinate. Cisco—" Barry put his hand on Cisco's shoulder and squeezed. "Find Caitlin. She needs to frost up and we could use all the help we can get."

"On it," Cisco agreed, and he brought up a portal with a wave of his hand, stepping in and vanishing from sight.

Barry took a deep breath, going through all of his immediate options before he made a choice. They needed him on the ground more than in the lab, and Iris would figure out a plan to get them through.

"Barry, be careful okay?" Iris said. "Dad and Eddie are watching each other's backs, but you're going to be out there alone."

"I've got you on the radio," Barry said. "This is fine. It's fine." He took one more deep breath and started to run.

~*~

The Manhunters were everywhere. As soon as Barry took out one, two more took its place. The team kept in touch, coordinating with the police to attack the worst concentration of Manhunters, but if Barry was honest with himself, there really wasn't any difference between one street and the next. Central was covered in robots, and he couldn't even imagine what it looked like in Star City or L.A.

He was on plan variation eighteen in the back of his mind when one of the Manhunters got in a shot that sent him crashing against a building. His ankle twinged, and he winced as he rolled over onto his hands and knees, shaking his head to clear it. He needed to stick in the present, not get lost in how the battle could possibly go, so he grabbed two pieces of brick-and-mortar debris that had crumbled on his impact and took a deep breath, ignoring the pain, to zip behind the Manhunter and slam its head between his hands. The metal frame of its head crunching in was satisfying, and it fell to its knees, giving Barry the opportunity to yank out a bunch of its wires.

There was a bright flash of whitish-blue to his left, and he turned to look, thinking he'd run into Caitlin—but in the half second it took him to turn and slow down enough to be seen, he'd already recognized the blue parka, the cold gun blasting at another Manhunter until it froze solid.

"You okay, kid?" Leonard Snart didn't wait for a response, walking up to the Manhunter and kicking it solidly in the knee. The robot's leg shattered at impact, and the rest of it scattered into pieces as it landed on the asphalt.

"I'll live," Barry said, glancing up and down the street—for the moment, all the Manhunters had dispersed, but the lull wouldn't last for long—and tested his ankle, rolling it a little as he waited for the Speed Force to heal the pain away. "Thanks for the help."

Leonard hummed, a little noncommittal sound, as he crouched next to the Manhunter and prodded it with the nozzle of his gun. "Not every day we have androids to fight."

"Wh—Are the Rogues out fighting too?" For some reason, Barry had thought the Rogues would've hightailed it out of Central at the first sign of trouble. It was possible he was in shock. He hadn't had anything to eat in hours.

Leonard stood and looked over at Barry, arching his eyebrow. "Central is our home, Barry. Can't steal anything if there's no one to steal from."

Barry nodded. "Okay. Got it. Right thing for the wrong reasons." He patched in on the comms as he scanned the street, ready to move at the first sign of trouble. "Hey, guys, the Rogues are out on the street to help, I think? Don't catch them in the crossfire."

"Got it," Iris answered immediately. "Hartley just showed up at the CCPD. I'll pass the word along."

Leonard walked back and forth in front of Barry, his eyes flitting right and left, and Barry realized Leonard was keeping watch until Barry caught his breath.

"What's the sitrep?"

Barry rubbed the back of his neck, trying to work out the kinks of tight muscle. "I don't really know what to tell you. A robot showed up—From I don't even know. Outer space, I guess? Asked me and Cisco if we wanted to join them to bring order to the cosmos. When we said no, they got hostile."

"And it's safe to guess that this isn't centered here?"

"Iris said it's a global thing. Every hero we've been able to check in with has been fighting." Barry rolled his ankle again; it didn't hurt anymore, so he tested a couple of steps before he relaxed. "Can you get in touch with the Waverider?"

Leonard shook his head and raised his gun, shooting just as a Manhunter stepped out into the small street. "They'd already be here if they were going to help."

"It was worth a try." Barry grinned at Leonard, small and tired. "This mean you're gonna watch my back?"

Leonard's mouth tilted in a smirk. "It hurts me to hear you say that, but… yes. For now."

"Great." Barry's smile widened, and he turned away to run a new perimeter. He hadn't complained about it before, but fighting by himself was kind of scary and lonely. He missed Wally, who was off getting his Master's degree in Keystone. Barry hoped he was okay; surely Iris would've told him if there was anything wrong.

He zipped to a stop in front of Leonard again. "Looks like there are about eight Manhunters on Piccadilly Lane. Ready to go after them?" 

A muscle in Leonard's jaw twitched, and Barry ducked his head, trying to hide his smile. Leonard looked disappointed even with the goggles obscuring his eyes. 

"Not everyone can have a thematically-dramatic codename like you do, Snart."

"I'd hoped for more from sentient killer robots, but that's what you get when you have expectations," Leonard said dryly. He gestured in the direction of the street with his cold gun. "C'mon, Barry. Can't rest yet."

"If you're sure you can keep up!" Barry's laugh was caught by the wind as he started to run, and he ducked and weaved between each Manhunter, trying to find a vulnerability, a kill switch that he could pass on to everyone else fighting for their lives.

It was easier with the two of them together, Leonard freezing an android and leaving it for Barry to shatter and disperse. They moved like clockwork, destroying each robot in a matter of minutes. By silent agreement, Barry was in charge of any civilians they discovered, and even then, Leonard provided cover fire until he got them out of the way. There wasn't really any particularly safe space, so the most Barry could do was get them out of the direct radius of battle. The Manhunters were persistent, and Barry tried to imagine what would happen if the Manhunters had a million more of them waiting in the wings to come to Earth. How long would they be able to hold out?

They worked their way down to Primrose Park, leaving a path of scattered machine parts behind them, where they stumbled on what looked like a full regiment of androids. One by one, their eyes flashed red, as slow and steady as a metronome.

Leonard gestured over to a line of bushes, and Barry sped over, waiting for Leonard to make his own slow way over to cover. Once Leonard caught up, he stared at Barry for a long time, the goggles hiding his expression.

"Asshole."

Barry snorted at that and shrugged. "I'm not just going to assume it's okay to carry you with me."

Leonard nodded and turned his attention back to the Manhunters. "Any clue what's going on there?"

"We haven't seen them like this. We've only seen them in action."

"Wanna do some more recon and see if there's anything different about these androids?"

Barry nodded and set off in a streak of lightning, pushing himself to move faster so that he could get in and out before they realized he was there. Each one had a panel protruding from its back, which Barry hadn't seen on the other Manhunters he'd taken apart.

He returned to Leonard and crouched beside him, resting his forearm on his knee. "They looked like the other Manhunters." He looked back over at the Manhunters, the rows that filled the park like they'd just come off the assembly line. "I didn't want to touch them, since I don't know if that would've woken them up."

"We could use my cold field," Leonard said after a moment, sounding strangely conflicted. "It should freeze them in place long enough for you to take them out. Cons: I'm not sure you could run while the cold field was activated, _and_ I'd need to charge the cold gun before I froze anything else."

"Maybe I can get Cisco—"

They both looked up when they heard a small whistling noise—there was something shiny and blue arcing over the buildings, growing bigger as it sailed closer, and Barry realized that whoever it was still had a Manhunter attached to him, sparks flying between them as bullets ricocheted wildly, and they were definitely going to land in this park, where at least a hundred other Manhunters were waiting.

Barry and Leonard ducked at the last minute, wincing at the sound of the impact, the clang of metal hitting metal, and, "Take _that_! Yeah!" Barry looked over the line of bushes hiding their position as two bright lasers discharged into the Manhunter's face, leaving it twitching and sparking before the newcomer kicked it away.

There was obviously only one correct thing to do at that point, and Barry turned to Leonard to find a matching grin on his face.

"Throw away the plan," they said in unison, and Barry bolted out of hiding in a flash of lightning as Leonard stood and blasted the nearest Manhunter. Barry gritted his teeth as he punched at a Manhunter over and over again, until the velocity of his strikes started to warp and dent the metal. He brought one Manhunter down to its knees and went to the next one, phasing his arm into its chest and grabbing a handful of wires, vibrating faster until they started to catch fire.

Leonard was faced away from Barry, aiming his gun away from where Barry needed to fight, and a smile ticked up at the corner of Barry's mouth. He had no idea why they didn't team up more often.

Barry's vision grew hazy, and he stopped for a minute, shaking the grayness away. He'd been running for hours—he needed to get some food ASAP.

"That one's initiating self-destruct! Out of the way, I've got this!" The new guy twisted a dial on his wrist, and a translucent dome sprung up over the remaining Manhunters. Barry didn't waste any time, darting forward to snatch the guy and deposit him a safe distance away before turning right around and grabbing Leonard, too. 

The ground shuddered when the Manhunter detonated, and he watched the flame and debris climb the walls of the dome. In minutes, the fire burned out, leaving the remains of the Manhunters charred and eaten through.

"Force field." The new guy tapped his wrist again, a blinding smile pulling at his mouth. That was a practiced smile, and even his teeth were perfectly even and white. He stuck out his hand at Barry. "Booster Gold, pleased to meet you."

Barry reached out and shook Booster's hand. "Thanks for the help. I don't think I've seen you around Central before."

"I usually swim in bigger ponds," Booster said, beaming another smile.

"You're that guy that saved the President," Leonard said, shouldering past them to walk in the direction of the Manhunters that were just destroyed.

"You've heard of me!" 

"I watch the news," Leonard said dryly.

Barry shook his head and ran to the edge of the blast radius, taking a second to look at the remains of the scene before Leonard and Booster showed up. The park had a large, charred circle of grass in the center of its field, but other than that, it was just bits and pieces of robots that remained. It would take time to clean up, but that was something they could worry about after they successfully repelled the Manhunters.

Barry heard the rustle of Leonard's jacket, the jostling of Booster's gold-and-blue armor, and Leonard came to a stop next to Barry. "See anything useful, Red?"

"Well, it looks like some alien robots blew up." Barry looked up, smirking, and Leonard tilted his goggles down just enough so Barry could clearly see his eyeroll.

"The Manhunters won't stop until you get rid of the Grandmaster, anyway," Booster said diffidently, and Barry stood, turning to face him.

"You know something about these guys?"

Booster shrugged. "They're alien robots that want to destroy all emotional life? They call their leader the Grandmaster. If you find him, they'll fall apart and retreat."

"Fantastic," Leonard said, slotting his cold gun into his holster for the moment. "Where're we going to find this Grandmaster?"

Booster looked at Leonard like he wasn't quite sure if Leonard was joking or not. "Outer space."

Leonard stilled, tension written in the stiffness of his arms, the position of his hands. It made Barry twinge a little in sympathy.

Barry carefully put his hand on Leonard's shoulder, and Leonard tilted his head in one short, sharp movement, probably glaring at him from behind those goggles. "I… might know some people who can help."

"Of course you do." Leonard shrugged Barry's hand off his shoulder, and Barry turned, eying their perimeter. From the sound of it, they didn't have long before more Manhunters showed up.

"We need to regroup. Booster, you know where STAR Labs is?" Barry asked, and Booster laughed.

"Please. Do _I_ know where STAR Labs is? _Everyone_ knows where STAR Labs is."

Barry snorted. "Uh, okay, then. Let's regroup there."

Booster stumbled over a bit of Manhunter debris. "Wait, you want me to come with you?"

Leonard arched his eyebrow, briefly resting the barrel of his cold gun against his shoulder. "You're the one that knows everything about the Grandmaster, aren't you?"

"I don't know everything," Booster admitted, "but I do probably know more than you do." He scratched the back of his neck. "Teaming up with Barry and Leonard Allen. Never thought I'd see the day."

The words sank into Barry like a stone, leaving ripples of shock in his mind, and he could feel his blush rising, burning up his throat and into his cheeks. "That's not—" he said weakly.

He flinched when Leonard aimed the cold gun right at Booster's chest, his jaw tight, like it was made out of stone.

"What did you just call me?" Leonard's voice was soft, controlled, almost frightening in its levelness, especially with his finger on the trigger of the cold gun.

"I…" Booster blinked and looked down at the gun like he couldn't quite believe Leonard had pulled it on him. "Leonard Allen? Are you not? Is it too soon?"

"I—" Barry's throat worked again before he could manage to get another word out. "We're not…" There was a crash off to their left, and a powerline pillar went down like someone had taken an axe to it. Barry shook his head to clear it and focused on the immediate problem. "Manhunters. STAR Labs. Go."

Booster nodded and aimed his fist to the sky, rising off his feet like it wasn't anything to defy gravity and fly.

"I hate time travelers," Leonard growled.

"Look, just." Barry sighed and turned to Leonard. "We need to go. I'll call Cisco to meet us. If Booster's right, then we'll be able to end the conflict."

"And if he's not?" Leonard asked, and Barry privately thanked him for ignoring the new elephant in the room Booster had set between them. "He fell out of the sky and didn't really tell us anything we couldn't have guessed on our own."

"Well, we're not going to be doing any worse." Before Leonard could say more, Barry hefted Leonard in his arms and flashed over to the labs.

Leonard stumbled a step or two when Barry let him go, and Barry shot a grin and a wave at Iris before heading to the cabinet where Cisco stocked his high-calorie power bars. He tore into one and devoured it in two bites before reaching for another one.

"Iris, tell Cisco to get here, we're about to have a visitor."

Iris shook her head and laughed softly. Barry's chest ached. "No 'glad to see you're still safe, Iris?' Barry, I'm hurt."

Barry swallowed, his throat tight, and he mustered a smile. "Sorry. Just hungry."

"And you're obviously all right," Leonard said easily, sharp eyes taking in the room. 

Iris rolled her eyes and turned back to the comms. "Cisco, come to the labs ASAP."

"Gotcha," Cisco said, and a few seconds later, a vortex opened up and he stepped through. His jacket was torn, but even after hours of fighting, his hair looked spectacular and windblown. "What's so important that you had to pull me out?" He frowned a little upon seeing Leonard but didn't say anything, turning to Barry and Iris instead.

"I was thinking that we could probably use Kara's help," Barry said. "Maybe see if she can bring her cousin with her."

Cisco snapped his fingers. " _There's_ an idea. Kara would knock these suckers out like they're nothing."

Booster walked in, looking around with a sort of nostalgic wonder written all over his face. "This is teriff. Never thought I'd get to see STAR Labs like this!"

"And who's this?" Cisco asked, cocking his head and folding his arms over his chest.

"Our new _pal_ ," Leonard said, derision dripping from his voice. "Booster Gold."

Cisco's expression smoothed, and he snapped his fingers. "Oh, hey, I know you. You've got style. A weird, white boy style, but you stick to your guns."

Booster stopped looking around to focus a megawatt smile at Cisco. "You're a fan!"

" _I_ have fans." Leonard curled his hand around the butt of his cold gun, sweeping his thumb over the metal frame in a caress. "You have… a couple of people who know who you are."

"And I've got the key to the city," Barry said. "Knock it off, we still have killer robots on the loose."

Leonard inclined his head and removed his goggles, scoping out the lab as he walked around. 

Cisco shook his head. "Please hop to another dimension, Cisco, you make it look so easy." Without waiting for a response, he stepped into another vortex and vanished.

Barry took the opportunity to shove one more power bar into his face and walked over to Iris, leaning against the console as he watched Booster and Leonard.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Barr?" Iris asked in undertone.

"I've had worse." Barry itched to touch her, but even a twitch of his hands made his knuckles hurt, so he focused on stretching his fingers instead. "How're Eddie and Joe?"

"Good." Iris looked up at Barry and smiled. "They're blockaded in the CCPD with some civilians."

Barry breathed through the rush of relief that rose up in him and nodded. "I'm glad to hear that."

The sound of Cisco's vortex drew Barry forward, and Booster stopped his exploration of the lab to step up to Barry's side. He thought for a moment that Leonard would do the same, but Leonard stopped at the perfect angle to have a good view of Barry and Booster as well as a good view of the vortex, and Barry supposed he couldn't blame him. If Leonard had been cautious before, dying had made him even more wary.

Kara was the first one to step out, and she scanned the room briefly before her gaze lit on Barry. She smiled, pulling him into a hug. "Barry! Iris!" She released Barry to pull Iris up into a big hug that made Iris laugh. She turned back to Barry as Cisco and someone who had to be Kara's cousin stepped out of the vortex, the portal vanishing behind them. "Cisco told me all about what was going on. You guys seriously have the worst luck. Please tell me you at least had an extended honey—"

Barry loudly cleared his throat, and Kara broke off, looking over at Barry in obvious confusion. Barry shook his head once, short and sharp, and Kara looked between him and Iris again.

Kara looked like she was about to say something, but Leonard stepped up, looking Kara over. "Leonard Snart. You must be the Supergirl I've heard so much about. It's a pleasure."

"Captain Cold?" Kara waved, a little awkwardly. "Barry told me you were dead."

Leonard shrugged, his attention flitting over to Cisco. "I got better."

Kara nodded, her forehead still creased in confusion. "Well, um." She turned resolutely to Barry. "Barry, this is my cousin, Kal. Kal, Barry."

"Nice to meet you. Please, call me Clark." Clark had a genuine, friendly smile on his face, and he didn't even try to squeeze Barry's hand when they shook. Barry sort of liked him despite himself, although if asked he would remain firmly loyal to Kara.

"Nice to meet you too. Kara's told me a lot about you." Barry wanted to wince—he was sitting there exchanging pleasantries while people were dying out in the streets. "I wish we had more time for introductions, but we're in a tight spot. Booster?"

"Here!" Booster stepped confidently up to Barry, and then looked at Clark and Kara with a delighted smile. "Debriefing with Superman, Supergirl, the Flash, _and_ Captain Cold. This is boosterific!"

"I'm itching to break our agreement," Leonard said, turning to glance at Barry. It annoyed Barry that he couldn't read Leonard's expression with his goggles on. He'd never worn them around Barry for so long—of course, he'd also been firing his gun nearly nonstop. That could've had something to do with it. "I'm outta here. You focus on Skynet, and I'll give these Terminators a hard time."

"Leonard—" 

Leonard stopped at the sound of Barry's voice but didn't turn back around. 

"I'll come find you when we're done," Barry said.

Leonard raised his hand in acknowledgement and left the cortex. The remaining five of them drew together in a half-circle around Iris and her console, and Kara shot Barry another concerned look. 

"I'll talk to you about it later," he muttered under his breath, and Kara nodded.

"So. It looks like we've got a Manhunter invasion on our hands," Booster said. "They've got a person-robot-whatever that basically calls all the shots for them. They aren't a hive mind, but if we can take down the Grandmaster, the other Manhunters should theoretically fall into disarray and retreat from Earth's more organized forces."

Clark nodded. "Okay. The plan's going to be simple, but it's not going to be easy. Do we know where the Grandmaster is located?"

Barry shook his head. "We didn't even know anything about a Grandmaster until Booster mentioned something."

"If we can track down the Green Lantern in your sector, they should be able to help us," Kara said.

"What's a Green Lantern?" Cisco asked. "And if we've got someone who can help with invasions, where the hell were they when the Dominators showed up?"

Kara raised her hands in surrender. "We don't even know if you have a Green Lantern Corps on your earth. If we can't find them, we'll track the signal that's linking the Grandmaster and the Manhunters together."

"I trust you both with this," Barry said slowly, "and we can't go with you. We have to keep them tied up as much as possible to limit our casualties."

Iris nodded her agreement. "We've already lost a lot of people. We can't spare you out on the streets."

Clark nodded. "We'll do everything we can, and we'll try to send you notice if it's possible."

"In the meantime," Iris said, glancing at Cisco, "is it possible to build something to interfere with that signal?"

"If I knew what it was, I could try—"

"EHF 258 GHz," Kara said immediately.

Clark nodded. "There's a lot of emergency stuff bouncing off your satellites right now, but that's the most consistent. And it's everywhere."

"O-kay," Cisco said after a second's pause. "That gives me a place to start."

"I'm going to keep patrolling," Barry said, turning to give Kara a hug. "Stay safe, guys."

"You too, Barry," Kara agreed. "Potstickers and pizza after this?"

"Wouldn't miss it." Barry waited until Kara and Clark flew off, and then he looked over at Booster. "Are you going to keep fighting in Central?"

Booster nodded. "It may not have been where I started, but at least I can help with damage control."

"Great," Iris said. "We need help in the Danville area. The Manhunters are going through houses to find victims."

"Yes, ma'am," Booster said, and he jogged out of the room.

Now that they were alone, Barry indulged himself just a little, squeezing Iris' shoulder. "You've got this?"

"You know I do." Iris aimed a tight smile up at Barry

As he sped up, preparing to rejoin the fight on the street, he stole a moment to watch the fall of her hair, the determination on her face. Then he took a deep breath, turned away from her, and ran.

~*~

The Manhunters were thick in the streets, and Barry lost track of how much time he'd spent just yanking civilians out of their path. The CCPD was doing a good job clearing them out of active danger zones, but there were only so many places they could go before they were caught. 

He avoided the fighting for a couple of seconds, running through Central to see where the worst of the battles were, stepping in occasionally to rescue someone or provide distraction for an officer that needed a hand, and only stopped when he found Leonard, who looked so determined and angry he could've been made of stone. Barry pulled him out of the way of a bullet and then ducked beneath the Manhunter's arm, punching it until it's plating gave way and it was vulnerable to Leonard's gun.

Leonard finished it off with a blast of frigid cold, and then looked Barry over. "The Scarlet Speedster, back out in the fight. Surprised you're not hanging out with your new friends."

"I'm better here than I am searching for some weird mastermind," Barry said. "Hey, about what Booster said—"

"I'm not interested," Leonard snarled, aiming a blast of the cold gun to Barry's left. "Choose a robot and start punching."

Barry nodded once and pushed back into the fight. He ignored the pain in his hands as he punched and punched, taking down android after android, and he ignored the pain that had built up in his legs after hours of running. There wasn't anything he could do other than try to control the flow of the Manhunters, and all of his faith was with Kara and Clark and Cisco to stop everything as soon as they could.

He was flashing between Manhunters, punching one, phasing through the other to get at its insides when everything went gray. When he came to, he was inside a building, maybe one of the brick warehouses he'd been running between. Leonard was watching him, crouching next to him to avoid being seen through the windows.

"How often do you pass out, kid?"

Barry groaned and rubbed the back of his head. "Not really that often anymore. I get hypoglycemic if I don't eat enough, and I guess I've been running for too long on too little fuel."

Leonard reached into the pocket of his parka and tossed Barry a power bar. He fumbled for a second, but caught it—it was one of Cisco's, unlabeled, but clearly packaged. "When did you get this?"

"I stole it," Leonard said, as though it should've been obvious, which. Point. "Thought we might need a few for the road."

Barry ripped it open and devoured it in three bites. "Thanks."

Leonard didn't say anything, watching Barry as he cocked his head to the side. "What's wrong with your hands?"

"Wha—Nothing's wrong." Barry frowned, pushing himself up from the floor and leaning against the wall of their hiding spot as he tried to catch his breath.

Leonard grunted, and then leaned close—adrenaline rushed through Barry instantly, his heart pounding, his thoughts flying through his mind too fast to pinpoint as Leonard raised his hand—and pressed the button for Barry's communication receiver. "Ms. West?" Leonard asked, now close enough to Barry that his voice could be picked up by the microphone. "Barry needs to eat, and I need to recharge my gun. Is a half hour break too much to ask?"

After a pause, Iris responded. "No emergencies. The CCPD and the Rogues are holding. Do what you guys need to do."

Leonard pulled away, and Barry sucked in a quick breath, unaccountably disappointed. "So, uh…"

"Your hands," Leonard said coolly. "Let me see them."

Barry flushed and scooted away, drawing his hands up to his chest. Having Leonard look after him was way more embarrassing than having Caitlin look him over after a fight. "I'm good, thanks."

Leonard pushed up his goggles, and for the first time that night Barry could see his ocean-blue eyes. There was dirt smudged along one cheekbone and Barry fought the urge to reach out and try to wipe it away. Leonard sat down in front of Barry and curled his fingers around Barry's wrist, drawing it toward him. Barry resisted for a second and then lowered his head as Leonard pulled off his glove.

His hand actually didn't look as bad as he thought it would, even though his knuckles were smeared with blood and bruises. Leonard pressed his fingers against Barry's palm in a caress that shivered up Barry's arm, and Barry couldn't help but flinch when Leonard started to touch his fingers.

Leonard looked Barry in the eyes again, but Barry avoided his gaze, focusing on the shift in the building, the sound of fighting off in the distance. "Your hands are broken," Leonard said eventually. "We need to reset them."

"I usually ignore it," Barry admitted. "It hurts, but my hands heal fast. Sometimes I just have to wait until the fight's over so Caitlin can set the bones correctly."

"You've been punching metal how many times tonight?" Leonard arched his eyebrow. "Hands are important, Barry. We need to fix it." Leonard rose to his feet, leaving Barry for a second as he ransacked the warehouse. It didn't take more than a couple of minutes, and Leonard returned with alcohol swabs and some gauze. Leonard took Barry's ungloved hand in his and started scrubbing his skin clean with a swab.

They were quiet, Barry staring at Leonard and Leonard looking down, focusing on scrubbing the blood away. "Are we going to talk about it?" Barry asked softly. "What he said?"

"There's nothing to talk about." Leonard kept his eyes averted. "The future changes all the time."

"But—" There was a pop, a moment of searing pain as Leonard rebroke Barry's pinky finger and carefully set it, gently manipulating Barry's finger so everything was in place.

"We both know what happens when we learn too much about the future," Leonard continued. "It's best to leave it alone." He rebroke Barry's ring finger before Barry could respond, and Barry gasped instead, squeezing his eyes shut as Leonard manipulated the bone into place. Having Leonard reset his fingers seemed more intimate than when Caitlin did it, and Barry wondered if it was because of the atmosphere or the stress they were all under that made it seem so different.

"Look, can we just talk to each other for five minutes without lying?"

Leonard shot an amused look at Barry before focusing on Barry's fingers again. "Not interested, kid. You can get honesty hour with your team."

"How about this"—He paused to breathe through the pain—"if you answer a question of mine, I'll answer a question of yours. Whatever you want to ask."

Leonard darted another wary look at Barry's face, and whatever he read there made him smile, brief and gone again. "That's not fair."

Barry shrugged. "For once, I'm more interested in getting answers than playing fair. One time offer, Leonard. If these Manhunters go down and you haven't said yes, that's it." 

It was a risk, gambling with information like that, but Mick had told him once, drunk and laid out on a table, how obsessed Leonard had been with learning about the Flash. Barry was hoping that was still the case.

Leonard darted a look up at Barry and then down again. "You drive a hard bargain."

Barry shrugged but remained silent. After Leonard reset his next finger, he exhaled and asked, "What happened to you when you died? I want to know everything about it."

Leonard frowned. "That's a complicated question."

Barry nodded. "You're the one who told Iris to give us a break."

Leonard double-checked how Barry's fingers were healing and then let him go, passing him a power bar. Barry ate the bar without complaint, and Leonard pulled off the other glove, spending a minute or two scrubbing Barry's right hand free of dried blood. "Here's the short version: an organization was controlling time through something called the Oculus, taking away people's free will. I was travelling with a bunch of self-sacrificing idiots, and they dragged Mick into their nonsense. We were at a place called the Vanishing Point, outside of time."

Barry nodded, almost wanting to hold his breath so that he didn't accidentally interrupt the story Leonard was telling. He'd never really gotten the full story from anyone on the Waverider, and he couldn't help imagining what it might have been like as Leonard continued.

"The only way to stop that organization was to destroy the Oculus, but someone needed to stay to maintain the self-destruct. Raymond volunteered, but Mick had gotten attached. And since Mick was there because I was there, it made sense for me to take his place. Knocked Mick out, completed the self destruct, and voila. Dead. When the Oculus exploded, I shattered with it. Gideon called it 'simultaneous temporal refraction'. My body was gone, but my mind wasn't. Had to pull myself back together. Materialized on the Waverider after two years and came home."

"Wait, what does 'simultaneous temporal refraction' even me—" Barry's voice rose into a yelp when Leonard set another finger, and he cleared his throat before he raised his head and stared at Leonard. 

Leonard looked completely unrepentant. "You said one question. That makes it my turn."

Barry pressed his lips together and glared for good measure. "You're right," he bit out, leaning against the wall again. "Fine. What did you want to know?"

Leonard studied Barry's hand for a long minute. "What happened eight months ago?"

Barry jerked, but Leonard kept him in place with a tighter grip on his wrist. He thought briefly of phasing through Leonard, running back into the fight, but… there was a larger part of him that was achingly lonely, and Leonard might have been the only person who could understand it.

"You're not asking an easy question," Barry managed to say.

"I was never going to ask something easy, and you know it," Leonard shot back, raising his head and watching Barry again.

"How do you even know something happened?"

Leonard's eyes sharpened on Barry's for a moment, and he sighed, uncrossing his legs and stretching out. He was still holding onto Barry's hand, but the press of his calf against Barry's thigh seemed to drain his anxiety away. "I was spread out across the timestream, and I saw everything." Leonard said finally. "I can feel the cracks where something changed."

Barry leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. He swallowed. "For the last couple of years, I've been trying to stop taking advantage of time travel. It's not easy, it's terrifying, and no matter what I do, something new breaks, and I can't put it back together. Iris was my wife. We were happy. And then I went up against another speedster called Godspeed. He went through time and I followed him, because I was the only one who could. I was the only one with the ability to stop him."

Barry exhaled a sigh and ignored his stinging eyes, willing the tears not to fall. "When I came back, everything was different. We weren't married, and Eddie—Eddie Thawne. He was alive." He opened his eyes and looked at Leonard, who, thank god, wasn't looking at Barry with any sort of pity at all. "Iris is happy, and one of my friends is alive again. It's worth it."

From outside, there was a clang of metal, the sound of rocks or some sort of debris being crushed underfoot, and Leonard carefully made his way up into a crouch, easing his way to a window and peeking out. After a tense minute, the footsteps of the Manhunter faded away, and Leonard took a breath. "We should keep moving."

"Wait," Barry said desperately as he climbed to his feet. "Iris gave us half an hour. We've got ten minutes left."

Leonard rolled his shoulders and stepped away from the window, moving further into the building. Barry wouldn't put it past him to try and vanish, so he sped up a little until he reached Leonard's side.

"Why is this so important to you?" Leonard snapped.

"Because there's only one reason you'd take my name," Barry admitted. "Look. I'm not asking you to marry me right now. I'm not asking you to elope or run away with me. But what I've missed—so, so much—is having a partner. Someone I can come home to at the end of the day, who knows I'm the Flash. Someone who can support me knowing everything, and someone I can support, too. I was giving up hope that I'd ever find something like what I had with Iris, but… if it's possible, I'd want to share it with you." Barry averted his eyes, already embarrassed by how much he'd revealed, but it didn't matter. If even a little of what he said got through, the risk was worth it.

"You've got a blind spot where I'm concerned, kid." Leonard stepped forward and curled his hand around Barry's shoulder, gently guiding him back. Barry's heart started to pound at just that single, simple touch. Before tonight, Leonard had only touched him gently once. It was a thrill and a revelation that he wanted it to keep happening.

"All you have to do is say you're not interested, and I'll drop it." Barry backed into the wall, Leonard's hand on his shoulder keeping him carefully pressed in place.

"Not interested." Leonard seemed to mull those words over, eyes slightly averted from Barry's face. "Since we're doing a little honesty hour here after all? I've never _not_ been interested." Leonard drew closer, so close Barry could see the sweep of his dark eyelashes, feel his breath on his cheek. "But I know exactly what to do to make you want me, to make you stay, and I'm not gonna be that kind of asshole."

Barry couldn't help it—he laughed outright, and it was only Leonard's hand on his shoulder that prevented him from stumbling from the force of it. Leonard looked _offended_ , pulling away to look at him, but Barry had to clap his hand over his mouth and wait until he could take a breath without giggling again. "Oh my god. Let's get something straight here, okay?" He scrubbed the heel of his palm against his eyes and looked back at Leonard, who was standing tense, still, like he was waiting for an opportunity to run. "I'm thirty years old, Leonard Snart. I'm not a kid. You're not going to… going to _steal my virtue_. Why do we have to be so dramatic about everything?" Barry pulled off his cowl and ran his fingers through his hair. "Len, I just want to stop screwing around. It was a fun game while it lasted, but we've wasted enough time. Don't you agree?"

Leonard had grown more relaxed over the course of Barry's impromptu speech, his eyes a pale ice blue that always made something in Barry clench at the sight. "I don't know," he said slowly, "I've always been a fan of going hot and cold."

Barry shook his head. "Asshole. I'm going to kiss you, and then we're going to fight these stupid robots until Kara and Clark destroy the Grandmaster. And then, I don't know. Sleep. Dinner. A movie. _Something_."

Barry pushed Leonard's hand off his shoulder and moved closer. For once, they met in the middle, and Barry sighed against Leonard's mouth as he reached up to cup Leonard's face in his hands. It was gentle, sweet, nothing like what he expected, but maybe everything that he'd wanted. Leonard curled his hands around Barry's back, one moving to settle at the small of Barry's back, the other remaining flat between his shoulders, and Barry let his hands fall away from Leonard's face to cautiously follow the folds of Leonard's shirt, until he could sneak his hands beneath Leonard's parka. Leonard was shockingly warm—for some reason, Barry always imagined him running cool, but he was a little damp and sweaty, smelling of dirt and metal, and Barry resolved to send Booster a fruit basket or something in appreciation.

Barry reluctantly broke the kiss, and Leonard leaned his forehead against Barry's. Leonard's cheeks were flushed, he was a little out of breath, and Barry knew he was being given a gift.

"Let's go beat some robots up, okay?"

Leonard shook his head, reaching for one of Barry's hands and squeezing. "You're gonna break your hands again."

"I'll kick them instead," Barry promised, and Leonard pulled away with a glare.

"And get stress fractures. Shin splints."

"I always knew there was a worry wart under all those puns."

Leonard grunted and pulled away, pulling his goggles back into place and heading for the exit. "Fine. You're the one who'll have everything rebroken."

Barry grinned, flashing back into his gloves and cowl and darting after Leonard. 

They worked just as well as they had before; Barry would find the Manhunters, report to Leonard, and then they worked with Iris over the comms to come up with a better solution than just punching them until they went down. Leonard would freeze them, and Barry would grab the Manhunter and race up the side of a building, letting it fall from his grasp to shatter. Alternately, Barry started throwing rocks at supersonic speeds, which didn't work quite as well as a bullet, but it worked well enough. And if Barry stole a power bar from Leonard's surprisingly deep pockets when he needed it, or if he was struck all over again at the realization of what was possible between them and had to steal a kiss to prove it was real, well. Only the two of them needed to know.

After a few hours, without any notice, the Manhunters broke rank—some of them stayed to fight, but there were more who started their thrusters and began flying away.

Cisco whooped over the comms. "I stopped the transmission signal because I am a frigging _genius_!"

"You're the best," Barry responded. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so tired.

Leonard turned and blasted one last Manhunter before the core of his gun whirred and lost its glow. "Guess I'm out," he muttered to himself and slid the cold gun into its holster as Barry walked over to him.

They waited in silence, watching the Manhunters fall over themselves in disarray, and retreat. Earth had won. Again. The feeling never got any less great.

"You take my last name," Barry reminded Leonard, just to see Leonard scowl.

"What happened to being a mature adult?"

Barry grinned and rocked back on his heels. "I'm inviting Booster to the wedding."

"I hate you." Leonard turned and started walking the other direction.

Barry zoomed in front of him and kept step, walking backwards. "Chinese for dinner? I bet I can find _one_ Chinese place still open."

Leonard didn't bother looking at him. "Extra wontons. I want orange chicken, and I'm not sharing."

"I'll meet you at my apartment," Barry said, and he didn't leave until he'd gotten one short, affirmative nod.

He still needed to regroup with his friends at STAR Labs, make sure Clark and Kara were safely on their way home, and make sure the Manhunters were gone from Central for good. After that—dinner. And hopefully, the first step toward the future.

~*~


End file.
